Refrigerator and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

A control method of a refrigerator which includes a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged, a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively regulate the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser, and a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser, includes determining which switch of the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch is handled first; and opening the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the ice supplying switch is handled while the water supplying switch is under operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 2007-0001437, filed on Jan. 5, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to controlling a discharge order of water and ice according to handling of a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch of a dispenser.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a refrigerator includes a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment partitioned to preserve various foods in an optimum state for a long period of time. Foods such as vegetables, fruits, etc. which should be preserved above the freezing point are stored in the refrigerating compartment, and foods such as fish, meat, etc. which should be preserved below the freezing point are stored in the freezing compartment.

The refrigerator includes a main body formed with a refrigerating compartment and a freezing compartment with a middle partition interposed therebetween, and a refrigerating compartment door and a freezing compartment door respectively coupled to front left and right parts of the main body to rotatably open and close front openings of the refrigerating compartment and the freezing compartment.

A dispenser is provided at a front surface of the freezing compartment door to supply water and ice from a water storing tank typically provided in the refrigerating compartment and an ice making tray typically provided in the freezing compartment to the outside.

The dispenser is provided with a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch selectively supplying water and ice.

The water supplying switch operates a water supplying valve regulating flow of water supplied to the dispenser.

The ice supplying switch operates an ice supplying valve regulating flow of ice supplied to the dispenser.

However, in a dispenser of a conventional refrigerator, if a big container or a tray type container, for example, a red bean sherbet container is to be used, a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch provided to the dispenser are likely to be handled together due to a limited space of the dispenser, thereby causing an operation which is not wanted by a user.

That is, if ice is intended to be discharged from the dispenser to the big container or the tray type container, the ice supplying switch and the water supplying switch are operated together, or the water supplying switch may be operated while the ice supplying switch is handled. Accordingly, ice and water are discharged together through the dispenser.

Also, if water is intended to be discharged from the dispenser to the big container or the tray type container, the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are simultaneously operated, or the ice supplying switch may be operated while the water supplying switch is handled. Accordingly, ice and water are discharged together through the dispenser.

Accordingly, in the conventional refrigerator, when a user intends to discharge ice or water through the dispenser by using a big container except a cup, the ice supplying switch and the water supplying switch are operated together or then ice and water can be discharged together, thereby reducing a life span of a driving component of the dispenser, and causing inconvenience to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Additional aspects and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a refrigerator and a control method thereof improving a control method of a dispenser, thereby extending a life span of a driving component of the dispenser, and improving convenience of a user.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing a control method of a refrigerator which includes a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged, a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively regulate the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser, and a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser, including determining which switch of the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch is handled first; and opening the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the ice supplying switch is handled while the water supplying switch is under operation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control method of the refrigerator includes opening the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control method of the refrigerator includes opening the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control method of the refrigerator includes opening the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled within a certain time interval.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control method of the refrigerator includes opening the water supplying valve and the ice supplying valve to supply the water and the ice together to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing a control method of a refrigerator which includes a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged, a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively regulate the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser, and a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser, including determining which switch of the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch is handled first; and opening the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing a refrigerator, including a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged; a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively control the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser; a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser; and a control part which transmits a signal to the water supplying valve to open the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the ice supplying switch is handled while the water supplying switch is under operation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control part transmits a signal to the ice supplying valve to open the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control part transmits a signal to the ice supplying valve to open the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control part transmits a signal to the water supplying valve to open the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.

According to an aspect of the invention, the control part transmits a signal to the water supplying valve and the ice supplying valve to open the water supplying valve and the ice supplying valve to supply the water and the ice together to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention can be achieved by providing a refrigerator, including: a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged; a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively control the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser; a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser; and a control part which transmits a signal to the ice supplying valve to open the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a part of which is opened;

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the refrigerator according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below so as to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

Hereinafter, as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a refrigerator of a side-by-side type will be described. The present invention may be also applied to a refrigerator of other types.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a refrigerator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a refrigerating compartment 13 and a freezing compartment 15, a refrigerating compartment door 17 and a freezing compartment door 19, an ice storing part 31 provided to the freezing compartment 15, and a dispenser 41.

The refrigerating compartment 13 and the freezing compartment 15 are oppositely partitioned by a middle partition formed to a main body 11. The refrigerating compartment door 17 and the freezing compartment door 19 are respectively provided at front openings of the refrigerating compartment 13 and the freezing compartment 15 to open and close the front openings, and door guards 21 are disposed from up to down in inner sides of the respective doors 17 and 19 to accommodate bottles, etc. In the refrigerating compartment 13 formed to a right side of the main body 11, a plurality of shelves 23 are disposed up and down in an upper part of the refrigerating compartment 13 to partition the refrigerating compartment 13, and a plurality of accommodating drawers 25 are provided in a lower part of the refrigerating compartment 13.

The ice storing part 31 is provided in an upper part of the freezing compartment 15 to store ice made in an ice making compartment (not shown) receiving water from an exterior water supplying source and making the ice.

A water storing tank (not shown) is provided in the refrigerating compartment 13 to store water supplied from an exterior water supplying source.

The dispenser 41 is provided to the freezing compartment door 19 for receiving ice from the ice storing part 31 and water of the water storing tank in the outside.

The dispenser 41 includes an operation panel 43 for selecting ice type and inputting a refrigerating control order, etc., a water supplying switch 45 of a lever type for water discharge, and an ice supplying switch 47 of a lever type for ice discharge.

The water supplying switch 45 operates a water supplying valve 51 regulating flow of water supplied from the water storing tank to the dispenser 41.

The ice supplying switch 47 operates an ice supplying valve 55 regulating flow of ice supplied from the ice storing part 31 to the dispenser 41.

The refrigerator according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a control part 61 transmitting an operating signal to the water supplying valve 51 to open the water supplying valve 51 to supply water to the dispenser 41 if the ice supplying switch 47 is handled while the water supplying switch 45 is under operation.

If the water supplying switch 45 is handled while the ice supplying switch 47 is under operation, the control part 61 transmits the operating signal to the ice supplying valve 55 to open the ice supplying valve 55 to supply ice to the dispenser 41.

Also, if the water supplying switch 45 and the ice supplying switch 47 are simultaneously handled, the control part 61 transmits the operating signal to the ice supplying valve 55 to open the ice supplying valve 55 to supply ice to the dispenser 41.

Also, if the water supplying switch 45 and the ice supplying switch 47 are simultaneously handled, the control part 61 transmits the operating signal to the water supplying valve 51 to open the water supplying valve 51 to supply water to the dispenser 41.

Hereinafter, a process that ice or water is discharged through the dispenser 41 of the refrigerator according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention if the ice supplying switch 47 and the water supplying switch 45 are handled together or with a time interval will be described by referring to FIG. 3.

The control part 61 determines whether the ice supplying switch 47 is in the process of being handled or not (S10).

Here, if the control part 61 determines that the ice supplying switch 47 is not in the process of being handled, the control part 61 determines whether the water supplying switch 45 is in the process of being handled or not (S20). If the control part 61 determines that the water supplying switch 45 is in the process of being handled, the control part 61 transmits an operating signal to the water supplying valve 51 to open the water supplying valve 51. Accordingly, the water supplying valve 51 is opened (S30), and water is discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41. At the same time, the ice supplying valve 55 is closed, and ice is not discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41. If the control part 61 determines that the water supplying switch 45 is not in the process of being handled, the control part 61 maintains closed states of the water supplying valve 51 and the ice supplying valve 55 (S40 and S50).

If the control part 61 determines that the ice supplying switch 47 is in the process of being handled, the control part 61 determines whether the water supplying switch 45 is in the process of being handled or not (S60). If the control part 61 determines that the water supplying switch 45 is not in the process of being handled, the control part 61 maintains the closed state of the water supplying valve 51 (S40).

If the control part 61 determines that the water supplying switch 45 is in the process of being handled, the control part 61 determines whether the ice supplying switch 47 and the water supplying switch 45 are simultaneously handled or not (S70).

If the control part 61 determines that the ice supplying switch 47 and the water supplying switch 45 are handled together, the control part 61 transmits an operating signal to the ice supplying valve 55 to open the ice supplying valve 55. Accordingly, the ice supplying valve 55 is opened (S80), and ice is discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41. At this time, the water supplying valve 51 is closed, and water is not discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41.

If the control part 61 determines that the ice supplying switch 47 and the water supplying switch 45 are not handled together, the control part 61 determines whether or not the water supplying switch 45 is handled after the ice supplying switch 47 is handled (S90).

If the control part 61 determines that the water supplying switch 45 is handled while the ice supplying switch 47 is under operation after the ice supplying switch 47 is handled, the control part 61 transmits an operating signal to the ice supplying valve 55 to open the ice supplying valve 55. Accordingly, the ice supplying valve 55 is opened (S80), and ice is discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41. At this time, the water supplying valve 51 is closed, and water is not discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41.

If the control part 61 determines that the ice supplying switch 47 is handled while the water supplying switch 45 is under operation after the water supplying switch 45 is handled, the control part 61 transmits an operating signal to the water supplying valve 51 to open the water supplying valve 51. Accordingly, the water supplying valve 51 is opened (S30), and water is discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41. At this time, the ice supplying valve 55 is closed, and ice is not discharged to the outside through the dispenser 41.

As described above, if the ice supplying switch and the water supplying switch are handled together or with a time interval, the refrigerator according to the present invention provides a priority order to discharge ice and water through the dispenser, thereby extending a life span of a driving component of the dispenser, and improving convenience of a user.

That is, if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation, or if the ice supplying switch and the water supplying switch are handled together, only ice is discharged through the dispenser.

Also, if the ice supplying switch is handled while the water supplying switch is under operation, only water is discharged through the dispenser.

In the exemplary embodiment, if the ice supplying switch and the water supplying switch are handled together, only ice is discharged through the dispenser by means of control of the control part. Alternatively, if the ice supplying switch and the water supplying switch are handled together, only water may be discharged through the dispenser by means of control of the control part, or ice and water may be discharged together through the dispenser by means of control of the control part.

As described above, the present invention provides a refrigerator and a control method thereof providing a priority order to discharge ice and water through a dispenser if an ice supplying switch and a water supplying switch are handled together or with a time interval, thereby extending a life span of a driving component of the dispenser, and improving convenience of a user.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. A control method of a refrigerator which comprises a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged, a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively regulate the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser, and a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser, comprising: determining which switch of the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch is handled first; and opening the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the ice supplying switch is handled while the water supplying switch is under operation.
 2. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising opening the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.
 3. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising opening the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.
 4. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising opening the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled within a certain time interval.
 5. The control method of the refrigerator according to claim 1, further comprising opening the water supplying valve and the ice supplying valve to supply the water and the ice together to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.
 6. A control method of a refrigerator which comprises a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged, a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively regulate the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser, and a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser, comprising: determining which switch of the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch is handled first; and opening the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.
 7. A refrigerator, comprising: a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged; a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively control the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser; a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser; and a control part which transmits a signal to the water supplying valve to open the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the ice supplying switch is handled while the water supplying switch is under operation.
 8. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the control part transmits a signal to the ice supplying valve to open the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch is handled while the ice supplying switch is under operation.
 9. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the control part transmits a signal to the ice supplying valve to open the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the control part transmits a signal to the water supplying valve to open the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.
 11. The refrigerator according to claim 7, wherein the control part transmits a signal to the water supplying valve and the ice supplying valve to open the water supplying valve and the ice supplying valve to supply the water and the ice together to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled together.
 12. A refrigerator, comprising: a dispenser through which water and ice are discharged; a water supplying valve and an ice supplying valve which respectively control the water and the ice which are supplied to the dispenser; a water supplying switch and an ice supplying switch which selectively supply the water and the ice to the dispenser; and a control part which transmits operating signals to the ice supplying valve and the water supply valve to open the ice supplying valve and the water supply valve, respectively.
 13. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein the control part transmits a signal to the ice supplying valve to open the ice supplying valve to supply the ice to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled simultaneously.
 14. The refrigerator according to claim 12, wherein the control part transmits a signal to the water supplying valve to open the water supplying valve to supply the water to the dispenser if the water supplying switch and the ice supplying switch are handled simultaneously. 